This is probably not the first time these questions were asked. In 2019, The New York Times published a story on errors in books by some high-profile authors and ponders the question of who should be responsible for fact-checking books, especially those with controversial subject matter that would invite more intense scrutiny.
"Publishers have long maintained that fact-checking every book would be prohibitively expensive," says the report, "and that the responsibility falls on authors, who hold the copyrights. But in today’s polarized media landscape, that stance appears to be shifting as some publishers privately agree that they should be doing more, particularly when the subject matter is controversial."
I'd probably say that books in general are being scrutinised more closely than ever. Even fiction is being closely read and hiccups found, like that book featuring a now-famous recipe for red dye. Technology allows books to be searched digitally, and social media helps drive the urge to find and publicise stuff – and stir up drama.
Trust as an element in publishing is no longer sufficient, not just for factual errors but also instances of plagiarism. Publishers may need to step up when authors fall short in fact-checking and verification of their works, non-fiction in particular.
John P. Weiss shares a bit from his writing life, and ponders one's aim of writing and how to course-correct when one loses one's way as a writer. I also like his idea of adding illustrations to his posts and articles.
This was my problem as well midway into my spell writing for money. It was a way to earn extra cash but as time went by, I would strive to "write better", lapsing into analysis paralysis when researching, furiously nitpicking each piece to death for anything that would undermine my arguments, and forgetting to just write. I'd only begun to emerge from the rut, but those tendencies remain.
I would've found Weiss's article helpful during the worst of it. Hacking algorithms for exposure is one way to get noticed but Weiss cautions against being consumed by numbers and money and forgetting the reason one writes. "We need fewer algorithm hacks and a lot more storytellers," he writes, "so we’ll remember 'who we are and why we’re here.'”
Hence, I believe that once we remember the "why", everything else starts falling into place, even for those who solely rely on writing to pay the bills. Kind of how author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek exhorts his audiences to find the "why" in what they do.
With the ongoing debate about work-life balance and how to achieve it, steps are being taken to address author and staff well-being in the United Kingdom. According to the Guardian...
This month, Anna Frame, communications director at the independent publisher Canongate, has confirmed the launch of two initiatives: an authors’ handbook in partnership with the Society of Authors (SoA) and a resource pack for publishers, in conjunction with English Pen. Canongate has also announced that it will publish fewer books so that it can dedicate more time to authors.
These measures follow news that the Orion publishing group will establish an academy for debut novelists with the aim of “demystifying the process and ensuring expectations are clear”.
Writing can be a lonely endeavour, with no support even from publishers. This is especially true for debut authors, and we haven't gotten into what happens after the manuscript is sent to print. These days it's not just writing; authors are also expected to market their work and engage their audiences, and not all writers can cope. Red tape, corporate culture shock, nasty Goodreads users, impostor syndrome ... small wonder some writers need help at some point.
Jonny Diamond at the Literary Hub also picked up the news, via a "particularly ungenerous Twitter thread", and lambasted the replies to the thread telling debut authors to "shut up and deal with it". Diving into authorship and publishing can be hard on newbies and Diamond is glad that "the publishing world in the UK is taking this seriously. We should be lifting up the younger generation of writers as they come of age in an era of never ending war, periodic plague, and climate doom." Aye, and I hope this catches on elsewhere.
TikTok is now into book awards too. The vlogging platform launched the TikTok Book Awards UK and Ireland to celebrate and recognise "the books, the independent book shops, the authors and the creators that have made the #BookTok community such a unique place." Now, the shortlist(s) for the inaugural awards are out, with categories that include BookTok Book of the Year, BookTok Author of the Year, Indie Bookshop of the Year, Best BookTok Revival, and Best Book I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time.
While BookTok and Bookstagram play a huge role in PR for books, what happens when book-related merch enters the equation? "Now, many publicity and marketing campaigns are created with influencers in mind, with TikTok video-worthy PR boxes and branded swag that’s designed to create a social media moment upon a book’s publication. The question, then, isn’t if influencer culture is changing book marketing and publicity, but how."
Digital platforms rely on user input and incorporates algorithms to tailor user experience. Audiences searching for things of interest can end up with results where what's popular or hot can be determined by users who can game the system, skewing search results, recommendations, or previews (Malaysian YouTube, ugh). Book-related swag may be a viable promotion method, but one wonders whether the reception to the related merch can make a book look better than it really is. As arbiters of taste, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, or Goodreads are only as good as what their user bases are into.
After the lawsuits comes the open letter. More than 8.500 authors from several genres of writing criticised makers of large language AI models for using their work to train the AI without permission or compensation. The letter also claims that, of course, AI threatens authors' livelihoods and "urges tech companies behind the AI models to obtain the writers’ permission before using their works and compensate them fairly for the past and ongoing use of their works in their generative AI programs."
Whether this will help pressure tech firms to rein in their AI development with copyrighted material is hard to tell, as finding evidence of AI being trained on such material is hard and the world is only beginning to reckon with the advent of AI in a growing number of sectors. The technology is still new and error-prone, so we still have time to adjust.
Meanwhile, publishers and writers keep pushing the envelope with regard to AI-generated content, driving a tsunami of machine-written material. Hachette is publishing poems by an AI poet – has the precursor to Jeff Hewitt's imagined AI author ORWELL arrived?
Developments in tech are moving fast but Elizabeth Minkel at WIRED doesn't think AI will disrupt books much and that the tech bros hyping the earth-shaking potential of AI to do so don't understand the medium or readers at all. She quotes writer and book-industry observer Maris Kreizman: “I don’t think they’re coming to that with a love of fiction or an understanding of why people read fiction. If they were, they wouldn’t make these suggestions that nobody wants."
Also:
- In the Livingston County News is the Los Angeles Times interview with author RF Kuang about her latest novel, Yellowface. "Speaking from New Haven, Connecticut, where she is pursuing a PhD from Yale in East Asian languages and literature," the report goes, "Kuang admitted with delight that 'every single thing that happens is based on a real scandal.' Folding in everything from the 'American Dirt' controversy to the 'Bad Art Friend' debate was part of the fun of writing a novel whose dizzying absurdities ... are still no match for reality."
- Bentala Naga, a book based on a legend told through Makyong performances, is being released in Italy as Bentala – Regina dei Naga: Una Leggenda Makyong ("Queen of the Nagas: A Makyong Legend"). The book by local author Ninot Aziz drew the attention of Italian publisher LetterarieMenti at the 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair, and they wanted to publish the Italian translation of it. Hope the Italians will like it.
- A "quiet revolution" is reportedly happening in British publishing as several major book prizes were all scooped up by small publishers. And one reason is what many feel indies can do better than larger publishing houses: "...because commercial pressures at large houses encourage cautious commissioning, nimbler indies – operating with tighter margins – step into the void and give choice-starved readers the books that corporate imprints deem unsaleable or otherwise risky."
- In a new book is an incredible story about Rekhabai, a fiery tawaif (courtesan, or female performer) in the mid-1900s, written by her son. One sees some parallels with the geishas in Japan, though the courtesan culture has died out in India. One is also reminded of another biography, No Bed of Roses, about the legendary entertainer Rose Chan.
- On the topic of tough women ... a graphic novel about Edith Garrud, pioneering instructor of women's self-defence and key figure in the British women's suffrage movement? Check out the excerpts and see if it interests you. Scheduled to be released on 1 August, though it's unsure if copies will be available in bookstores here.
- Know those donation drives every time there's a natural disaster? And reports of discarded or unusable items being "donated" to the victims? Getting those vibes from this piece advising against donating used or unwanted books for good causes. "Just as USAID claims to fight famine by sending surplus food from American farmers, Books for Africa will send surplus books from America. In both cases, their free goods undermine the ability of African countries to produce things for themselves."
- In June, Kelly Jensen at Book Riot "distributed an author survey to gauge the impact of book bans on authors. The survey specifically sought to look at where or how school and library visit invitations have changed since 2021 — the first year this wave of book bans really caught fire." The results are in and, yes, the impact is sizeable.
- Someone is clamouring for romance hardcovers, not just for practical reasons but sentimental ones as well. "The average reader — who isn’t particularly a collector — would still be able to maintain their habit, but if they wanted a prized hardcover to keep on the shelf, or if they simply prefer reading hardcovers for accessibility or other reasons, they would have the chance to get them."
- Author, poet and literary critic Amit Chaudhuri once wrote that "colonialism hadn't introduced the cheesecake to the Indian middle class, but globalisation did". But journalist Priyadarshini Chatterjee found recipes for cheesecake – which uses no cheese – in a Bengali book published in 1904, almost 120 years ago. "History tells us that not all cheesecakes are made of cheese," she writes, "least of all cream cheese." Would Max Miller of Tasting History be interested?
- Can I just leave this here? I believe this piece is about the importance of editing and why a book must be well edited to avoid the necessity of abridgement. This is also a good argument for not bowdlerising books published a long time ago; such books are records of the views of the time and sanitising them of objectionable content runs the risks of whitewashing history. Teach readers how to engage problematic content.
- A book reviewer in Australia has been caught cobbling reviews from publishers' descriptions of the books, plus text in those books and material from other reviews. The article tries to discern whether the reviewer, a well-known figure in Australian academia, was plagiarising, cobbling, or both. This plagia-cobbling strategy sounds like a go-to for writers who have to review books despite being short on time and energy and having no access to those books. But if they had the books, is there an excuse for this?
- Celebrity autobiographies are often ghostwritten and readers understand that. But what of celebrity novels? "Do the rules that apply to the celebrity memoir remain the same when it comes to celebrity-authored fiction that has been ghostwritten?" asks the Guardian.
- A short Q&A with Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat, about a ... queer mountain lion living under the Hollywood sign? "Observing passing hikers, young lovers, and residents of the nearby encampment from the shadows, the lion comes to understand that they live in a city they believe to be known as 'ellay' and that their trauma resulting from their vicious father still resonates today." I should make a note about this title.
- A deep dive into the "third space for reading and the future of modern literature" that is the fanfiction sphere. "Fanfiction ... exemplifies the transformative potential of literature and pop culture, offering consumers and readers an agency to channel their creativity while engaging, moulding, and connecting with the stories and characters from the fictional universe that captivates us," reports The Daily Star of Bangladesh.
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